Leapin' Lizards!

This South Texas heat has done nothing to stop the procreation of lizards this spring. We have an abundance of the little green critters and they have made their presence known to the Westie of the house! Savannah has turned all her attention and energy toward the little fellas who cling to the tree bark or the brick on the front porch. Once she has one in her sight, nothing will distract her from her quest.

Just this afternoon she was sitting at the front window and her eye caught one fat lizard crawling on the brick around the window. I did everything I could to distract her - to no avail - so I brought out the camera to try to capture her rapture!

 There's a lot of intensity that may not be caught by the camera. She is totally ignoring any attempt on my part to draw her attention from the window!

I moved around to a closer side and still, no response to my calling.

As I backed up a little, I noticed that my girl is straddling the arm of the couch! Either she can get a better angle that way, or she's very confident that she won't slip off the edge!

From this vantage point, it appears she has a very comfortable grip on the couch and is in no danger of slipping off the arm. What intensity! What concentration!

Finally, I resorted to a squeak of her favorite squeaky ball. Can you say "annoyed?" If Westies could speak (which this one does frequently!), what would she be saying about now? Even the admittance of friends through the front door was only a short and temporary retreat from her appointed task. Only the disappearance of said lizard brought this little dog away from her perch.  Lord help me if she ever gets close enough to catch one!

Time Out!

In my previous post I told you about Moving Day for the Mozas and our entertaining the grandboys while the parents loaded and unloaded their earthly goods from one house to another. Right up there with Thomas the Train videos in preferred activity is playing with our own Miss Savannah. Both boys have decided that she is the perfect playmate when at Ludee's house. She's about their same age, and her energy is almost as boundless as theirs! And they share a love of toys. Can you get more compatible than that?

Here is my sweet Savannah after about two hours of chasing her balls and squeaky toys every time one of the boys threw them! I'm afraid she is getting settled into our slow and sedentary lifestyle! I snapped this picture when she jumped into the "time-out" chair for a breather! She has on her happy, smiley face, but her eyes are saying, "Let me rest a minute!"

It wasn't long before she was back down on the floor, wrestling her toys from the hands of one of the grandboys. She remained eager to play, and very patient ~ dare I say "long suffering"? ~ for hours on end, snatching a little nap or an escape outside every now and then. What a little trooper!

Moving Day

Today was moving day for Meredith and her family. They bought a house closer to us and we offered to keep the boys during the long day of packing the moving van and unloading at the new house. Here are some highlights from our very long day!

Andrew is checking out the Thomas the Train play tent.

A little hand is offering a squeaky ball to Savannah.

The rest of the hand came out of the tent to play with Savannah.

I think they are watching Thomas the Train video games.

Savannah had some competition for her squeaky football!

Let's see if this tent is big enough for two boys!

Yep! There's just enough room for two, and maybe a small, white dog.

Oh no, Papa and the tickle bug are doing a job on Andrew!

Look at Adrian - just the right size for playing in the tent.

Savannah doesn't want to miss out on any fun. She likes tickling too.

Okay guys, I know you're in there. Come on out and play some more.

Looks like these boys wore themselves out - finally getting in a nap.

Andrew too, though it took a short ride in the car to get him to sleep. He really missed his Mommy.

These two boys, their grandparents, and a little white dog had a very long day while Mommy and Daddy helped the movers take all their belongings from one house to another. They'll wake up tomorrow morning to a wonderful new backyard for a summer of outdoor boy fun.

Odds and Ends

You know how, when you are cleaning or moving things around, one thing leads to another and, before you know it, you've redecorated every room in the house? Well, that's what has been going on in my house this summer!

First we contracted to have the "Florida" room at the back of the house remodeled into a "media" room. At the end of that fiasco, we emerged with a beautiful new "Sun" room. Although we are still waiting on something to be done with the glass doors leading into the room, I've been busy getting the furnishings and wall decor where I want it, sometimes moving things around two or three times to find just the right look.

When the decals came in for the glass treatments, I took the plunge and put the large one on the outside door. After a few minor adjustments, I pronounced it "perfect" and waited impatiently for Graham to come home to admire it. It has given that door so much character and really emphasizes the garden look of the room. We are pleased and can't wait to put similar treatment on the glass in the french doors once they are replaced.

Even though we are having record heat, Savannah continues to prefer the great outdoors to her cool and comfy house. So I try to let her out for brief intervals often, watching to be sure she doesn't jump into the pool. When I check on her I usually find her sitting in the sun, daring a squirrel or a bird to come her way.

Lately she has caught sight of the little chameleon/lizards that hang out around the front porch. She gets totally obsessed with them and glues herself to the window until the little lizard finally slinks away. Such is life for the Westie these days!

Back to my original thought, prior to the remodel we moved most of the furniture into the living room. Then, a week ago, we had new beds delivered and the old beds moved from one room to another. That led to the removal of some bedroom furniture - some to the garage, other pieces to the upstairs rooms. That led to the realization that the high ceilinged walls in the den hadn't been dusted in twenty-five years, so we removed all the pictures from the walls and oiled the paneling. That led to moving pictures around, which led to my moving the computer around ~ don't ask why ~ and now we are unable to move without loud grunts and groans! I hope it's another twenty-five years before we get into this kind of mood again! Thank goodness for new, posture-pedic mattresses!

Just About Done

Every day I get another little detail taken care of in our newly remodeled room.  The first detail I took care of was to repurpose the room from "media" to "sun" room. I realized, after all the various items I purchased for it came into place, that my subconscious had already deemed it a sunroom! It feels so bright and roomy now and the new shades let lots of light in, making it a happy place.

This Saturday I will get Murphy's TV armoire brought in, and he will get the TV set up some time this weekend. I think it will cover most of the wall plugs. If not, a little foliage on top of the armoire will do the trick. Then I need to decide what pictures to put on the walls. I'm leaning toward some of our travel photos that I enlarged and framed. And I want to look at Pier 1 for a wicker rocking chair. With that addition and some kind of end table I think I'll have it finished.

Almost forgot about the glass decor. I don't know exactly how to describe what I'm going to do with the glass doors. I'll just have to show them off once they are done. And that can't happen until the cracked glass panels are replaced. So stay tuned for an update.

Time for a Haircut

I don't know if it's the sun and the water, or if Savannah's hair just grows fast, but she was getting pretty scraggly and really needing another haircut. I made her appointment for Monday and dropped her off at the appointed time. Her first haircut at PetSmart went fairly well, though the "Pawgress" report stated she was a little "jumpy." I could accept that, as she is pretty skittish when I try to pin her down to get a sticker from her foot, or try to smooth her tail. But I told her to be a good girl and ran back home to wait for the window man.

Not only is she scraggly, but with the 90-100 degree temps, she gets pretty hot outside too.

She was finished in just a couple hours so I hopped in the car when they called and went to pick up my clean, cool Westie. She looked so pretty and was obviously happy to see me. Her groomer then apologized that he couldn't clip her exactly like he wanted to because she was not very cooperative! He wrote in his report that he tried to "neaten" her up as best as he could! Oh my. It appears we have some behavior issues to deal with! Or perhaps next time I will give her something to calm her down a bit. At any rate, she certainly looks better and I know she feels cooler in this heat.

Such a pretty Westie!

Moving In!

We are finally at the point where we can start moving back into our newly remodeled TV room. The agreed upon repairs were done on Friday, new glass was ordered for the doors, and some material for Graham to finish the window was left with us. Out came the window and wood cleaner, as well as the Wet Jet Floor Mop for the tile, and we were in the cleaning business!

Murphy came over today and helped me put the Oriental rugs down, move the sofa and chairs in, and prepared the wiring for the armoire and TV. We turned on the AC and the ceiling fan and sat down to enjoy our new room. Next week the installer from Lowe's will come and put up the window shades and then I can hang the sheers to soften the windows. 

Right now this room reminds me of my Aunt Helen's sun room in Monroe. She had a sweet little room off the master bedroom that faced the front lawn and the Bayou. It had white wicker furniture and bright floral cushions and rugs. It just looked like a southern ladies' room. Until I get the window shades up and the TV in, I'm going to think about Aunt Helen's sun room!

And, being the indecisive person that I am, this furniture arrangement is likely to change multiple times until I get my "feng shui" just right! I have lots of creative family and friends who will help me find just the right formula!

Westie of the Week

Shortly after Treasure died I discovered a wonderful artist on Ebay who delightfully captures the essence of the Westie. I purchased one of her prints that looked eerily like Treasure and signed up for her weekly newsletter. This artist is Denise Randall. She and I have corresponded off and on about our Westies, so when we adopted Savannah, I knew I would want to introduce her to Denise.

This week's newsletter, titled "Good Dog Jack Presents," features Savannah as the Westie of the Week. We are just one of many rescued dogs that she has featured, bringing to the fore the availability of hundreds of dogs (and cats) from rescue organizations. Ours happens to have come from the Rescue organization in Houston, TX. Treasure was adopted from the Austin Westie Rescue. These wonderful agencies need more recognition and Denise provides that in her weekly newsletter.

So, without further ado....

Westie of the Week
"Savannah"

"Woof! Woof! My name is Savannah and I am 3 years old.
My new family adopted me from Houston Westie Rescue in March and now I have a happy forever home."

"My favorite toys are the ones that squeak. I can play with them forever!
I'm a pretty little Westie girl .... but, I'd rather be outside playing in my yard and getting dirty. The squirrels have been put on notice!

I love to chase balls and am real good with children. But, my most favorite thing is my pool.... especially when the Polaris pool cleaner is running! I race around, and back and forth, chasing that little monster... and sometimes it will squirt water at me!"

"Here I am at my pool. Boy do I love water! See me leaning over the side to get a drink....it's a trick I taught to myself.

I'm still not real good at walking with the leash but I'm learning real fast because I'm so smart!

Mom says I am a poster girl for rescue organizations and she wouldn't adopt a dog any other way! Thanks Mom! "

Want to see your Westie as Westie of the Week? Submit a photo and keep watching.

"Words of Wisdom" from Jack & Riley Howdy folks! Isn't Savannah a real cutie! And she sure is lucky to have a pool in her yard. A cool pool on a hot day can be lots of fun, but it can also be dangerous for your dog. Hundreds of dogs die each year from drowning. Be sure your dog isn't one of them! Would you like to learn more about how to keep your dog safe at the pool this summer? Read on. Your pal, Jack

And then Denise posts an article related to the Westie she has just featured, in this case one on pool safety for pets. If you are interested in subscribing to her newsletter she can be reached at Denise Randall gooddogebay@comcast.net, I highly recommend her art that she sells on Ebay. It's very reasonably priced and, as I said, perfectly captures the personality of the charming Westie. Her ebay ID is good-dog-jack.

Thanks, Denise, for making our girl a star!